What we heard today
Today we heard from two Parliament House security guards, Linda Reynolds’s former aide-de-camp Nikita Irvine, and Higgins’s ex-partner Ben Dillaway.
Just a reminder: Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court over an interview with Higgins on Ten’s The Project in which she alleged she was raped by a Liberal staffer in Parliament House. Network Ten and Wilkinson are defending the case and Higgins is a witness for the defence.
Lehrmann has always denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent, denying that any sexual activity had occurred in the criminal trial which was aborted due to juror misconduct.
Here’s what we heard today in the defamation case:
Senator Linda Reynolds’s former chief of staff Fiona Brown has asked to be excused from giving evidence at the defamation trial due to her “vulnerable” mental health.
Nikola Anderson, a Parliament House security guard, gave evidence about what she saw when she was on duty at the house on 23 March 2019. She told the court she found Brittany Higgins “completely naked” in senator Linda Reynolds’s office when she did a welfare check after 4am.
A second security guard on duty that night, Mark Fairweather, told the court Higgins “did stumble a little bit” and was asked to take her shoes off to go through the metal detector on 23 March 2019.
Linda Reynolds’s former aide-de-camp Nikita Irvine told the court Lehrmann gave her “bad vibes’ based on “women’s intuition”. Irvine said Linda Reynolds told her she felt “very sick” about Higgins’ disclosure. Irvine also said she did not think the Reynolds staffers she spoke to tried to “cover up” the alleged ministerial office incident.
Higgins’s ex-partner Ben Dillaway also gave evidence that Higgins alleged to him that she had been sexually assaulted and when he met her for a drink in Canberra she broke down and cried. Dillaway said he tried to get some help for Higgins’s distress after the alleged rape.
The Walkley Foundation revoked the nomination given to Seven Spotlight’s Trial and Error story about Bruce Lehrmann after reviewing documents released by the federal court relating to the payment of Lehrmann’s rent by Seven in return for the interview.
The federal court released a document detailing Brittany Higgins’s personal injury claim with the commonwealth. The deed of settlement and release shows that the total settlement sum was $2.45m. Justice Lee ruled personal elements of the settlement would be kept confidential.
The trial will resume at 10.15am tomorrow.
Updated
Higgins received $2.445m settlement including legal costs from commonwealth, court documents reveal
The federal court has released a document detailing Brittany Higgins’ personal injury claim with the commonwealth.
The deed of settlement and release shows that the total settlement sum was $2.45m.
That included:
$400,000 for hurt, distress and humiliation suffered by Higgins, arising from alleged conduct occurring during the employment, prior to the termination, and in no way connected to the termination.
$1,480,000 as a “capital payment” paid to Higgins due to her loss of earning capacity.
$220,000 as a reimbursement for medical and “like expenses” incurred by Higgins arising from her alleged sexual assault and event which followed.
$100,000 for past and future domestic assistance.
$245,000 as a reimbursement of Higgins’ legal costs and disbursements.
During cross examination earlier in the defamation case, Higgins revealed she received $1.9m from the commonwealth after putting in a personal injury claim.
“Yes, I received money from the commonwealth,” Higgins said. “They came to an agreement that a failure of a duty of care was made and they did pay me.”
The total amount of the payment was higher – $2.3m – but legal fees and taxes were taken out of that, she said.
“I think it was around $2.3m,” Higgins said. “I think it was the amount and then those taxes and then the lawyer took some, but I’m not sure what that fee was. I was never focused on that fee. It was only what I received that I cared about.”
Updated
